I invite you to come and appreciate the humorous, quirky, and yet heartwarming world of a small town college frat house and it’s denizens in this delightful romantic comedy. Sweet, adorable young jock, Brad, breaks the mold when, for the first time in his life, he goes for what he really wants whether it is a potential career in food and cooking or accepting and making known that a jock can not only be gay, but enjoy being on the receiving end of a topping suave and smart intellectual Sebastian who still has a few things to learn about love.

Brad’s got a sports scholarship. He’s popular in his frat and with the girls. He’s got it all going for him. But Brad is well aware that little about him is real. He’s living a lie and it is only about the time that he is staring at a guy’s butt in the shower room that even he sees the full truth. “I’m Gay” he works out and that explains so much.

But figuring that out is the easy part. He has no idea what to do with this knowledge so he stumbles his way along with girls, his frat, and his secret crush on the TA of his history class. Now that he figured out he’s gay, Brad wants Sebastian. Only Sebastian probably won’t want a dumb jock like Brad. Then there is the whole coming out part- family, friends- and while he’s at it, he might as well admit that he wants to work with food and cook not play sports though he doesn’t hate football.

Sebastian is shocked when the buff guy he has had a few fantasies over approaches him. Not only is Brad not straight, but this big bear of a guy wants Sebastian to top him. Sebastian doesn’t believe in love and doesn’t do relationships, but from the beginning his sweet adorable Frat Boy gets past his guard and makes Sebastian want more. He wonders if Brad really is gay or just experimenting and then wonders how long he should let things go. Only, he wants it to be real and he wants more time. Being with Brad is nothing like he imagined. Will he figure it out before he pushes Brad away for good?

The author had good insight into the world she wrote about. I had no trouble imagining that I was hanging out with some happy go lucky frat guys and slightly more serious grad students of a small town college. Brad and Sebastian share the narration. They are most definitely opposites. From a swift glance, it looks like Sebastian is the one who as the most to offer as the older, smarter, more experienced guy, but it is balanced out in that Brad is the one who understands love and relationships.

Now these are young college-age guys so things get hot and wild. And often. Brad has never been with a guy and their first efforts feel like that. The author explores the dynamics of a gay relationship and challenges assumptions. Brad is taller, bigger, the jock ergo he should ‘top’ in the relationship, but no, Brad prefers to receive. And beyond that, there is a whiff of dominance and submissiveness when Brad wants and is more comfortable with Sebastian controlling things in the bedroom even while Sebastian is satisfied when he is caring for his Frat Boy.

Beyond Brad’s coming out and the relationship and it’s dynamics, there is the fraternity and other surrounding characters. The author doesn’t skimp on that. The reader is introduced to Kyle, Collin, Eduardo, Tank, Julien, and the gang who reside at the TAG frat house. They are a tad over the top and hilarious, but fun. I can’t wait for more time with the guys. Brad’s ex, Ashley, was a surprise and I enjoyed her scenes. Sebastian’s grad buddies and roommates were nearly as quirky and odd as the frat guys. Man did Paul want smacking for being so rude.

I had the pleasure of getting this as an audio story. Nick Russo already impressed me with his narrative work so I was thrilled to see that he had the storytelling on this one. He did a fantastic job with Brad and Sebastian and the other voices. So versatile and intuitive with the story. I loved his ‘Brad’ voice. And the humor. I think he has great comedic timing and voice.

And so, this was a good time. I smiled through most of this book. It was sheer fun and I can recommend it to others who enjoy hot m/m New Adult Contemporary Romance.

My thanks to Riptide Publishing for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was born and raised near Sacramento, CA. I have read since I was four years old and developed tastes that run the gamut of literature. I went away to college and have a degree in education, a certificate in family history research, and a certificate in social work. I worked for a non-profit agency with low income families for 20 years which included being responsible for the children’s library and promoting/teaching adult literacy. I have lived in Southeast Michigan for the last 18 years and I am currently a book addicted homemaker with a cat and husband who keep me grounded. Recently, I made it a challenge to review each book that I have read as a favor to author friends who said reviews are important. I have done reviews for Good Reads, Amazon, eBay, and Smashwords, but mostly at Goodreads and Amazon.

I LOVE the fact that he is so open with who he is and doesn’t try to be shy or hold back who he really is! 🙂 I’m not big fan of audiobooks but maybe I just need to venture out some more because….I AM A PICKY. Teehee!

It took me a while to dip my toe in the Audio book lake. I started with books I already read and loved. This helped adjust. Now I like them.
Oh yes, Brad took a bit to figure out what was going on inside his own head, but once he did, he was open about it.

Oh a small town romance with a frat house. And Brad sounds like a great character who goes after what he wants! And the struggles he goes through to get there. That’s great the author seems to have a good insight in the world she writes about and you could imagine being there on the small college well. All the character and relationship dynamics sound interesting and well written. Great review!

It was fun following along as Brad figured things out and then plodded forward for what he wanted. Yes, the small town college setting was well done. Some write about college in New Adult romances and never quite hit the right tone, but this one did.

This sounds really fun. However, I worry that Brad comes out and his frat brothers aren’t cool with it. That would make me mad I think. You didn’t mention that though so… Great review and glad you loved it!

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